Door structure for railway-cars.



E. w. HARTOUGH & S. P. ALQUIST.

DOOR STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, I914.

1,137,483, Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

WITNESSES: INVENTO W WJV 'HE NORRIS PETERS CO, PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, a c.

E. W. HARTOUGH & S. P. ALQUlST.

DOOR STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

' m4. Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

,137,483. APPL'MTION m MAXI A TTORNE Y.S

THE N RRIS PETERS 60.. PHOm-LITHQ, WASHINGIUN. D. C.

E. W. HARTOUGH & S. P. ALQUIST.

DOOR STRUCTURE. FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I, 1914- Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES.

"HE NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTD-LITHCL, WASHINGTON D. c.

EDWARD W.

STTES PATENT OFFIC.

HARTOUGH, OF ST. LOUIS, AND SVEN PETER ALQUIST, 0F SEDALIA,

MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS T0 JOSEPH S. BALSTGN, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

DOOR STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it lmown that we, EDWARD W. HAR- TOUGH and SvnN PETER AL UIs'r, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Louis and Sedalia, in the county of Pettis and State of Missouri, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Structures for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to railway box car doors, of the sliding type, and has for its primary object to provide certain novel arrangements and devices for sustaining the door on the car body whereby the door may be freely moved back and forth across the door opening and whereby, when in its closing position it will be held firmly and closely against the door frame so as to provide a tight weather, dust and spark proof closure for the opening, and in such manner as to be flush with the side sheathing without any projecting parts liable to be broken off or injured if the side of the car is accidentally raked as not infrequently occurs.

The invention has for further objects to provide a door construction for freight cars which will be strong, durable, burglar proof, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, and which, in other respects to be hereinafter noted, will be an improvement upon the car doors of the sliding outside type heretofore used on freight cars.

The invention is illustrated, in certain preferred embodiments, in the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway box car fitted with a door constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2, a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a similar View, with certain parts in elevation, showing the door in position before the door opening but not closed against its seat as in the preceding figure; Fig. 4, a detail view, in perspective, of the cover or closure strip under which the door fits when in closed position;-Figs. 5 and 6, detail views of the arrangements for shifting the door inwardly to its closed or flush position, Fig. 5 being a sectional View on line 5-5 of Fig. 6, and Fig. 6, a sectional plan on line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a sectional view through the center portion of the door and associated parts showing a modified mechanism for moving the door into the flush position, this View showing the position of the parts while the door is still suspended from the track; Fig. 8, aview similar to Fig. 7, but showing the door in the closed position, and Fig. 9, a fragmentary front elevation of certain of the parts shown in the preceding two figures.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, the door constructions constituting the invention are shown in connection with a box car of typical wood construction. The same type of door may be employed on other types of box cars, for example, on box cars of, steel construction, without making any changes in the structure of the door except possibly certain minor modifications which will be well within the province of the ordinary skilled mechanic.

In the drawings, 10 designates the side sheathing of the car, 11 the side sill, 12 the flooring, 13 the side plate and 1 1 the door posts.

The door 15, referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, is supported so as to be movable back and forth across the door opening on a track 16 consisting preferably of an inturned angle bar secured to the side plate 13 by bolts 17 and spaced away from the side plate by a spacing block 18; the door being provided with hangers 19 secured thereto by bolts 20 which are furnished with rollers 21 which run upon the track 16.

Secured to the side plate 13 below the spacing block 18 is a downwardly inclined cover strip 22 (Fig. i). The upper edge of the door is formed with a bevel 23 corresponding to the inclination of the cover strip. A stop strip 24 is secured to the under side of the side plate 13 against which the door bears when closed. The floor 12 is formed with a bevel 25 and the lower edge of the door is correspondingly beveled and preferably provided with a metal shoe 26 having an upstanding flange 27 which comes against and makes a tight fit with a weatherstrip 28 on the floor. The door may be guided at the bottom by the usual brackets 29 secured to the sill by bolts 30.

The door slides back'and forth across the door opening on the track 16. It is displaced from the track and moved inwardly to the flush position shown in Fig. 2 by means of the following mechanism: 31 desi nates a rock shaft mounted in the door provided at each end with a finger 32 and at the middle with an operating lever or handle 33 which when the door is closed,

lies in a recessed casting 34 set into the face of the door. Secured to each door post 14' by bolts 35, 36, is a box-like casting 37 formed with a cam web 38 adapted to be engaged by one of the fingers 32 on the rock shaft 31. By raising the lever 33 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the fingers 32, by their engagement with the elements 38, first raise the door, lifting the rollers 21 from the track 16, and then cause it to be shifted inwardly until the lower edge of'the door is brought against the bevel 25 and the upper edge is fitted under the cover strip 22 and against the stop strip 24. The upper edge of the door is guided in thismovement by means of the hangers 19 which are formed with obliquefportions 39 that bear upon the up- 7 the door is closed the lever may be sealed by a sealing pin 44, or like device. The vertical edges of the door are preferably provided 'with Z-bars 45 which provide bearings for the rock shaft 31 and by engaging the castings 37 on the door posts when the door is in closed position, form a close waterproof fit between the door and the door frame at these places.

It will be seen that the door may be moved.

freely back and forth across the door opening in the manner familiar in outside slid.- ing car doors. When the door is closed it makes a tight fit with the door frame at'the top, bottom and sides, which excludes rain, dust, sparks, cinders, and the like. .Moreover, the rollers, track and hangers are relieved of all strain when the door is closed and the car in motion. danger of these relatively delicate parts becoming bent or broken due to vibration under the weight of the door. When the door is closed it is flush with the sheathing .of the car.. Moreover, it presents no projecting part which can be'injured or broken'ofi if the side of the car is accidentally raked as frequently happens to box cars. The only parts of the whole door structure which project out beyond the plane of. the side sheathing are the track and the retaining brackets. If the track should be raked 011', which is improbable on account of its position under the eaves, the connection of the door to the car is not affected since the door is supported upon the elements '38 and'is held in position by. the cover strip 22. The construction is burglar proof. The only This obviates the part of the mechanism which is exposed is the lever 33 which is sealed to the staple 43.

In Figs. 7 to 9 inclusive, we have illustrated a modified form of mechanism for displacing the door from the track and shifting it inwardly to its flush position. In this mechanism, the operating lever is pulled down to perform this operation instead of being lifted up as in the arrangement previously described. The door 15* has set into the front of it a recessed casting orstamping 34 in which is mounted a gear wheel 46 meshed with a gear wheel 47 on the rock shaft 31*, the rock shaft being provided with fingers 32 as in the previously described construction. The operating lever 33 is cast on the gear wheel 46. The'lever stands in the upright position shown in 7 when the door is suspended from the track. To shift the door upwardly and inwardly to its flush position the lever is pulled down .tothe' position shown in Fig. 8.

lVhile we have described our'invention in certain preferred embodiments, modifications might be made without departing from the invention. Therefore we do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention to the particular arrangements, constructions and devices shown and describedexcept so far ascertain of-the claims herein are limited thereto by their express language.

We claim: r

1. The combination with a railway car having a door opening,of a door, a single straight track secured to the car, a hanger provided with means for supporting'it on the track and secured to the outer face of the door and having an intermediate portion inclined inward over the door to bring its track engaging means over door and to engage the track, whereby when the door is raised, said inclined portion of the hanger will engage the track and force theupper part of the door inwardly, and means for raising said door.

2. The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of an outwardly and downwardly lncllned cover strip above saidopening provided with recesses at its top and on its upper side, a door, a track on the car arranged outwardly of said cover strip, hangers on the door having each' an upwardly and inwardly inclined portion and positioned between said strip and track, and mechanism for moving the door from the trackupwardly and inwardly into saidopening.

3. The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of a cover strip abovesaid opening, a door, a track on the car arranged outwardly of said cover strip,

hangers on the door provided with rollers bearing on said track, and mechanism for moving the door inwardly under sald cover strip, said hangers having oblique portions which bear against the upper surface of the cover strip when the door is moved into closed position.

4. The combination with a railway car having a door opening; of a door adapted to seat over said opening so that it is flush with the side of the car; a cover strip fixed to the car above said opening in a position to cover the line of engagement between the top of the door and the lintel of the opening and projecting outwardly and downwardly; means for sustaining the door so that it is movable back and forth across said door opening in a plane outside of and parallel with the plane of the side of the car comprising a single straight track, and a onepiece hanger on the door standing between the track and cover strip, and having an oblique portion positioned to bear against the inner side of track during the closing movement of the door to guide the door inwardly; and means for moving the door upwardly and inwardly to its closed position.

5. The combination with a railway car having a door opening; of a door adapted to seat over said opening so that it is flush with the side of the car; a cover strip fixed to the car above said opening in a position to cover the line of engagement between the top of the door and the lintel of the opening and projecting outwardly and downwardly; means for sustaining the door so that it is movable back and forth across said door opening in a plane outside of and parallel with the plane of the side of the car comprising a single track, and a one-piece hanger on the door standing between the track and cover strip and having an oblique portion positioned to bear against the track during the closing movement of the door to guide the door inwardly and to bear against the cover strip during the opening movement of the door to guide the door outwardly; and means for moving the door inwardly to its closed position and outwardly to its open position.

6. The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of a cover strip fixed to the car above said opening and projecting outwardly and downwardly, a straight door track-positioned outwardly of said cover strip and spaced therefrom, a pair of single piece hangers on the door each having an inclined portion positioned between said cover strip and track, and means for moving said door from the track upwardly and inwardly into said door opening; every part of said hangers during the closed position of the door lying within the vertical plane of the inner side of the track.

7 The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of a door adapted to be moved back and forth across said open- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the ing, a track secured to the side of the car above the door opening having a horizontal flange inturned toward the car, hangers on the door for supporting the same from the inturned flange of the track, means for raising said door from the track and moving it inwardly against the car, and an outwardly and downwardly inclined guiding strip on the car opposite and close to the horizontal flange of the track so as to provide a narrow opening for said hangers, the hangers being provided with inclined surfaces which cooperate with said guiding strip to guide the upper end of the door inwardly when the door is raised.

8. The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of a door adapted to be moved back and forth across said opening, a track secured to the side of the car above the door opening having a horizontal flange inturned toward the car, hangers on the door for supporting the same from the inturned flange of the track, means for raising said door from the track and moving it inwardly against the car, and an outwardly and downwardly inclined guiding strip which guides the door inwardly when it is raised, said guiding strip being arranged opposite and close to the inturned flange of the track so as to provide a narrow opening for said hangers.

9. The combination with a railway car having a door opening, of a door movable back and forth across said opening, a track secured to the side of the car above the door opening and consisting of an angle bar having a horizontal flange inturned toward the car, hangers secured to the outer face of the door formed with inwardly and upwardly inclined portions, rollers on said hangers adapted to run upon the horizontal flange of the track, means for raising the door so as to lift the rollers from said track and for forcing the door inwardly against the side of the car, and a downwardly and outwardly inclined guiding strip on the car which cooperates with said inclined portions of the hangers to guide the upper end of the door inwardly when the door is raised, said guiding strip being arranged close to the inturned flange of the track so as to provide a narrow space through which the hangers extend, and the upper edge of the door being beveled so that when the door is closed the guiding strip intervenes between the upper edge of the door and the inclined portions of the hangers.

EDWARD W. EAR-TOUGH. SVEN PETER ALQUIST.

Witnesses:

J. H. WEIsBRon, F. O. TAYLOR.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,]).0. W ,r 

